Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is up again.

My dinner was a little later than usual because I have been wanting pizza and drove to a further grocery store to buy their frozen cauliflower crusts. I topped it with the garlic alfredo sauce from the Vegan 8 cookbook and a bunch of veggies. It was so good! The family loved it.

I also made the blueberry muffins from the cookbook, which they tell me were delicious.

Bill, lol at the Chris Christie book. I didn't know he has one. I'm still in a major reading slump. Ugh.

Karen, 8 hours of hiking?? Wow, wow, wow! You are doing so great.

Curly, fantastic news about the second job interview! Fingers crossed for you. Sorry about the cold. Everyone is sick at my house and I feel like a sitting duck.

Good morning. Gym this morning since I skipped it yesterday

I started watching the old PBS series about the sleuthing monk, Caleal or something like that. DS is off to take the ACT. I have a three day weekend I am going to thoroughly enjoy.

Wave to Beth, gardenerjoy and all

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Spent way too much time reading Chris Christie's book, Let Me Finish. He presents himself as the best of Joan of Arc, Mother Teresa, Ronald Reagan, and Donald Trump. The title, Let Me Finish, alludes to his belief that at this moment he is the best person on planet earth to come to Washington to finish putting the current administration on the right path. On Bridgegate, while he as governor of New Jersey, when the George Washington Bridge was squeezed to the inconvenience of a zillion commuters, he was 100% surprised, innocent, and unfairly judged to have known what was going on. I'm hooked. Needless to say, Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner are not seen to share his noble qualities. This is a book review, seriously avoiding expressing a political opinion here, but do feel free to note that for reading a book by a politician about other politicians, I got what I signed up for.

Eating, on the other hand, was on plan, CREDIT moi. Dinner was a dish that was part of our Christmas present from the DS - delivered frozen in one meal batches. Not only was it good Chana Masala Curry Chickpeas, it only required thawing and heating. Life should be so good.


maryann - You made me google Cadfael for the Wiki article about the series you're watching. "Combines the curious mind of a scientist/pharmacist with a knight-errant" - sounds better than the book I'm reading, LOL. Enjoy your three-day weekend.

Karen (karenrn) - What a hike! 2800 feet elevation gain is a big deal - both up and down.

curlyjax - That second interview is a good sign. Good luck.

Penny. - Speaking of cauliflower crusts, the New York Times had a full page ad as a humorous love letter from a Pizza. Yes, a letter from a pizza. I couldn't figure out what it was about, even with its ending, "I know this is crazy. Here's my number. Caul me later." Caul??? Turns out to be from the Cauliflower growers selling cauliflower pizza. Not clear to me that every reader would figure it out. So, you're not alone.

Readers -

Just a wave today. i took it fairly easy yesterday but feel worse today. I haven't been sick in ages, and i'm feeling sorry for myself. I can't call in sick tomorrow as I have an event with people coming, but maybe i will tuesday. Grumble grumble.

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is holding in the up position.

We were promised a snowstorm and it is sunny and clear out. We don't get much snow, so when it's in the forecast everyone gets a little excited. Oh well!

Maryann, enjoy your long weekend. I hope the ACTs go well for your son.

Bill, I'm glad you are enjoying the book. The frozen meal sounds like a great gift!

Curly, take care. You sound miserable.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Standard Sunday walk with DW, CREDIT moi. A neighbor stopped us to explain that he hadn't forgotten to return my Sawzall, he was still using it. I really like when the neighborhood works.

Spent some time with friends who are considering buying an electric vehicle. Like most folks, their concern is range. The newer models all go further than 200 miles; the hybrids go further by reverting to the gasoline engines and stopping at gas stations. They were amazed at the instant acceleration. I stood on my front porch and pointed out a Tesla Model 3, a Chevy Volt, a BMW i3, and my Nissan LEAF. Felt like, slowly, electric cars are coming.


curlyjax - Being sick is a bummer, to be sure. Hope it passes soon.

Penny. - Be leery of snow - Seattle isn't handling it all that well since they're geared for rain, rain, rain.

Readers -

My retreat week went well! I’m feeling more relaxed and creative. I discovered that I want to spend much less time on social media and worked out ways to make that work for me. And, I figured out that I want to balance extroverted activities with lots of introverted ones.

All this has led, naturally, to my eating better. I crossed out ‘naturally’ because there isn’t anything natural about it. It has all led to making it easier for me to follow the Beck principles that work for me – and that I’ve worked really hard to tailor to my needs.

I'm well ahead of pace for my exercise. I'm managing to do a variety of exercise throughout the day rather than focus on one walk, that often doesn't happen when the weather is bad.

Exercise: +30, 355/1100 minutes for February

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight finally dropped, more than usual too, so hopefully progress.

Bill, credit for the walk. Portland does not handle snow well but I think they were going to use salt this time. Usually they do nothing to prep, plow main roads only (late) and leave the neighborhoods to fend for themselves.

Joy, it sounds so relaxing! I bet a social media break would solve my reading slump in a hurry.

I struggled with food at the Kings game. This time I tried having limited sweets and it was disastrous. Next time I will stick to no sweets. The experience of a crowded club filled with people jamming desserts as fast as possible during half time is not conducive to me enjoying them anyway. I know the scale is not a punishment but emotionally it felt like it with a three pound up in one day. The other factor was bringing my mom which I hadn’t planned and she eats a ton of sweets. she is 83 with diabetes so my anxiety was high which also could lead me to indulgence.

Planning today is super important. I do not want to react with an overly stringent plan because I’ll never hop back on. The solution for me is a planned treat and LOTS of fruits and veggies

BBE: I have had a hybrid for ten years and love it.
Penny: congrats on the drop. Patience wins the day.
Joy: Welcome back from vacation.

Diet Coaches/Buddies - Prepared myself for taking the first class of the Spring semester. It's about computer security, so it has my undivided attention. One more time I'm reminded that the Surface Web is anything that a search engine, like google, can access; the Deep Web is anything that a search engine can’t access without the password - like Facebook; and the Dark Web is a small portion of the Deep Web that has been intentionally hidden and is inaccessible through standard web browsers, but only via a browser like TOR (the Onion Router). Before the class is over, I'll have taken myself to the Dark Web for the first time.

Eating was OK, CREDIT moi. It was good until an evening meeting went too long and I compensated with cheese and crackers. Snacking did not make it end faster. It did have the benefit that I couldn't complain out loud when there was food in my mouth.


Joy (gardenerjoy) - Congrats on your successful retreat. And thanks for teaching me how to strike out mistakes words.

maryann - I commiserate with the difficulty of FREE food at your King's game. "LOTS of fruits and veggies" is always a good idea.

Penny. - Yay for a weight drop - especially more than usual.

Readers -

Still feeling bleagh today.Woke up in the middle of a dream (which always makes me feel tired) which was mixing reality and wierd stuff that couldn't possibly happen but I did push away sweets that were offered so that was pretty cool.
I like today's quote-your weight is not a reflection of who you are inside.
We are awaiting the impending doom of an ice storm. My son already knows they have early dismissal at 10:30! I may leave work early if i get too anxious about the snow.
Bill- cool sounding class! I know an elder who bought a hybrid and is upset that she needs to drive it more frequently, otherwise the battery stops working.
Penny- yay for the drop! The only benefit of frequent snow is we new englanders do know how to deal with it, and promptly.
Joy- I'm a big fan of making sure I get my down time /introvert time too, I definitely need it.
Maryann-Good idea on not being overly restrictive and hard on yourself.

Good morning coaches,

The food plan was been a little too loose so tightening it up today. Actually it was only yesterday that it was a little loose. I did a 12 1/2 mile hike with over 3000 feet elevation gain. I stopped about 1/2 mile before the end that the group went to because I was afraid of being too tired on the way out. That last bit was boulder hopping which is quite tiring. A couple we have known for 25 years spent the night with us last night before flying out to Germany this morning to see their daughter and grandchildren. He has recently been diagnosed with end stage cancer with a prognosis of about 2 months. I was afraid if I was too physically tired I wouldn't be able to hold it together. As it was the visit went just fine and dh took them to the airport 30 minutes ago. They will stay another night when they return in 8 days before driving home to Tucson.

Curlyjax I hope you're feeling better soon. When is your next interview?
Bill I never have understood what they were talking about when they say the Dark Web. It's all kind of hard to imagine.
Maryann Oh the scale . . . after being at my lowest on Saturday I jumped up two pounds for no good reason. I had sushi last night and have decided I'm not getting on it until Friday. Sometimes I just have to do that.
Penny I'm happy for you that you got a good drop on the scale.
GardenerJoy I'm glad you found the retreat time helpful. I keep in communication with a lot of people, but I do have a lot of solitude too. I found my hour and a half break alone on the trail yesterday just wonderful. I couldn't head back
early because the route finding was difficult and I didn't want to worry the leader, but just being alone in the middle of the day was nice.

Today's focus is getting back on track and trying not to worry about my friends who were here last night. I will have to say that they are the most co-dependent couple I have ever known and I'm worried about how she will be.

I planned around a meeting with pizza and it worked. I didn't even eat the planned snack when I got home. And, I woke up hungry -- always a good sign that I'm eating well.

Exercise: +25, 380/1000 minutes for February

karenrn: Sorry about what your friends are experiencing. Good for you for providing them a temporary home to make their journey easier.

Yesterday was OP. I looked back in my notes to see that I had been sticking to a 24 hours plan since Jan. 19 with very few exceptions. Although success is not reflected in weight, it is in keeping a commitment to myself. The P and P leader says that it often takes 30 days to practice the food plan before a drop in weight so i am on target.

Food is planned. Have to get ready for Valentines Day art projects.
Wave.

Good morning!

Yesterday was on plan and weight is down another 0.2 smidge.

I pushed myself to go to cycling class after my friends canceled. They want to go tonight instead, so I'll do both nights, which is fine because I have not been feeling any soreness at all after these. I'm sure I need some different exercise with weights,etc.

Maryann, that's nice that you went out with your mom. Sorry about the stress! Have fun with the valentines projects.

Bill, the class sounds good. I always think of illegal activity on the dark web. Everything I've learned about it is from movies. Lol

Curly, it sounds like an early quitting time would be good for recovering from the cold too. Take it easy!

Karen, that is so good that you know your limit and can tailor the hike to meet your own needs even in a group setting. I sure hope your travelling friends do okay with the trip.

Joy, are you still doing salads? I was doing salads big time when I first tried to eliminate animal products but realized the raw veg was hard on my digestion. I need to incorporate them back in though.